Does Eclipse have an editor/viewer for java serialized files?

Question

I\'m serializing my objects with ObjectOutputStream(FileOutputStream(File)) and deserializing them with the analogous InputStreams. Is there a way to l

Answer 1

Write some tests (using Eclipse's built-in JUnit support).

The only way to "look inside" these files is to use ObjectInputStream(FileInputStream(File)), unless you're a bytecode guru and use a hex editor. If you actually have some testing, there is no need to "look inside" anything.

Answer 2

Write a class which loads the file and deserialises the object. Then use Eclipse's Debugging View to browse the object (by setting a breakpoint).

Answer 3

This is not a "free standing" answer, just an expansion of OrangeDog's answer.

"Write some tests (using Eclipse's built-in JUnit support). "

If you want to test serialization, then write tests that do the following:

1. Serialize one object to a file.
2. Deserialize to a different object from the same file.
3. Compair both objects to see that the deserialized object contains all of the values that were supposed to have been serialized (i.e. make sure that "all necessary attributes were written").

Answer 4

While this isn't a full fledged editor, Eamonn McManus has written a transcoder which deciphers a serialized blob into a human readable form. http://weblogs.java.net/blog/2007/06/12/disassembling-serialized-java-objects

If binary compatibility and performance are considerations, this would be a good time to look into Externalizable instead of Serializable.